(L-R) BillEase co-founders Georg Steiger, Huyen Nguyen, and Ritche Weekun, and CFO Garret Go BillEase, a consumer finance and buy-now-pay-later app in the Philippines, has received US$5 million in credit facility from Saison Investment Management, the offshore lending arm of Japan’s Saison International. This round expands BillEase’s existing Helicap-led credit facility to US$40 million, which already included participation from various investors, such as the Helicap Income Opportunities Fund, several institutional credit investors, and high-net-worth individuals. Also Read: Helicap joins Fi ..read more

The world of work is undergoing a seismic shift. The rise of hybrid work models is a prime example. A recent survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans found that close to three-fourths (74 per cent) of employers now offer hybrid work arrangements. This aligns perfectly with employee preferences, with a strong majority (68 per cent) preferring a hybrid model, versus 28 per cent wanting to work full-time from home and eight per cent preferring full-time on-site work, according to a World Economic Forum survey. This shift, coupled with globalisation and a growing emphasis ..read more

India heads the pack as an artificial intelligence leader, with 70 per cent of companies having AI projects up and running or in motion, according to a new report. This is in stark contrast with the global average of 49 per cent. Additionally, the report found that 91 per cent of India-based companies will use half or more of their data to train AI models in 2024, finds the second annual Cloud Complexity Report released by NetApp. “The world today is driven by AI, and data plays a critical role in enhancing AI capabilities,” said Puneet Gupta, Vice President and Managing Director at NetA ..read more

[L-R] Accacia’s Annu Talreja (founder) and Piyush Chitkara and Jagmohan Gaarg (co-founders) Accacia, a decarbonisation platform focusing on the real estate and infrastructure sectors, has completed its US$6.5 million pre-series A funding round. Illuminate Financial led the round with participation from an unnamed VC firm, AC Ventures, Accel Partners, and B Capital. Also Read: A deep-dive into Wavemaker Impact’s decarbonisation strategies in SEA Established in 2022 by INSEAD alum Annu Talreja (founder) and Piyush Chitkara and Jagmohan Gaarg (co-founders), Singapore-based Accacia offers an AI ..read more

Recent closures of recognized Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) providers like Pace and ShopBack have raised questions about the sustainability and future trajectory of this payment model. Five years ago, BNPL emerged as a game-changer in the payments ecosystem. The appeal of easy, deferred payments over time with no interest captivated younger consumers and saw rapid adoption globally. While these exits might suggest the BNPL model is losing its lustre after years of rapid expansion, the reality is that demand for BNPL is still growing worldwide, with major players like Klarna and Afterpay expanding ..read more

On March 19th, 2024, headlines across online media in Singapore announced an agreement between telecommunications company Huawei and eVE, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Land Transport Authority, to launch ultra-fast electric vehicle chargers in the country by the end of 2024. Under the terms of the partnership, Huawei will introduce an ultra-fast 480 kilowatt (KW) charger, 300 KW more than the incumbent EV chargers, with the first station expected to be operational by late 2024. Huawei claims its ultra-fast charger can fully charge an electric vehicle in 30 minutes. However, this claim is puzzli ..read more

Puffverse, an interactive and immersive 3D universe with NFT characters, has secured a US$3 million funding round led by Animoca Brands. Sky Mavis, Arcane Group, Spartan Group, Foresight Ventures, HashKey Capital, and Xu Family Office also joined the round. Hong Kong-based Puffverse will use the capital to develop its flagship party game, PuffGo, and the creation of a cloud gaming platform enabling NFT projects to build personalised metaverses using the company’s engine, all without requiring coding skills. Also Read: How BuildBear Labs makes Web3 space more accessible, secure for developers ..read more

According to the new Singapore Early-Stage Emerging Tech Startups 2023 landscape report released by SGInnovate, in 2023, Singapore’s early-stage emerging tech startup ecosystem experienced a significant surge in funding, reaching pre-2021 levels, driven primarily by increased investment in the Agrifood and Sustainability sectors. Total funding for these startups rose to US$402 million, marking a 56 per cent year-on-year increase from US$253 million in 2022. This growth was further underscored by a 1.5x rise in seed-stage deals, signalling a broader shift towards early-stage investment activit ..read more

Decentro founder and CEO Rohit Taneja Indian fintech infrastructure platform Decentro expanded into Southeast Asia in March 2023 by launching its Ledgers module in Singapore. With Asia-Pacific being a hotbed for digital banking solutions. Decentro aims to double its regional business growth by the end of 2024, tapping into the substantial market demand for new-age financial solutions. In this interview with e27, Decentro’s founder discusses the company’s products, plans in Southeast Asia, and upcoming funding round. Excerpts: What are the key features and functionalities of Decentro’s produc ..read more

In today’s rapidly evolving financial landscape, the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into wealth management strategies is poised to reshape investment paradigms. This transformation is further amplified by the rise of tokenised funding, leveraging blockchain technology to democratise access to investment opportunities. This article explores the intersection of ESG principles with tokenisation, examining its implications for the future of finance. Introduction The concept of ESG integration in finance refers to the incorporation of Environmental, Social, and ..read more